Valentine’s Day is coming, which means that many boys and girls are “panic” to find a beautiful and meaningful gift to give to their loved ones. It can be cards decorated with cute hearts, sweet chocolate boxes, fragrant bouquets of roses or teddy bears with cute messages printed on their shirts.
Although Valentine's Day has been commercialized and celebrated almost everywhere in the world, many people will be surprised to know that this holiday has existed for many centuries and originated from the legend of Saint Valentine.
Who is Saint Valentine?
There are many different biographies surrounding St. Valentine, and no one can be certain which is the real St. Valentine, as there may have been one or more imprisoned saints with the same name. However, the most widely circulated legend has St. Valentine as a priest from Rome who was arrested after secretly marrying Christian couples who were being persecuted for their religion by Emperor Claudius II in the 3rd century AD.
Illustration of Saint Valentine
It was because of his help in marrying them that Valentine was imprisoned and eventually sentenced to death. According to many sources, during his imprisonment, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. Then, on February 14, the day Valentine was to be executed, he wrote a love letter to the girl he loved.
Today, his skull is kept at Chiesa di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in Rome's beautiful Piazza Bocca della Verità; while his coffin, containing some bone fragments and a vial of his blood, is kept at Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin, Ireland. What's special is that many couples often come here to pray for St. Valentine's blessing for their relationship, and even many couples preparing to get married come to this church on February 14 to be prayed for and blessed.
Cupid and the arrows of love
Cupid is known as the god of love, desire, and passion. Cupid is often depicted as the son of the goddess of love Venus and the god of war Mars, and is known as Amor (“Love”) in Latin and Eros in Greek. Along with the heart shape, the image of a dove, the colors red and pink, Cupid is often mentioned as an ancient symbol associated with Valentine's Day.
Cupid is often depicted as a boy with small wings and a bow and arrow with which he shoots people's hearts. Therefore, people in love are said to have been "hit by Cupid's arrow of love".
Why is the heart associated with love?
The Egyptians believed that the heart was the source of memory and human emotions. It was so important that while all other body parts, including the brain, were removed during the mummification process, the heart was the only part that was retained. The famous ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle also believed that the heart was an organ of intelligence.
The heart's association with love was widely known until Galen, a Roman physician, said that the heart had a primary influence on human emotions rather than reason, but love was an exception because the main factors that controlled it were found in the liver.
During the Middle Ages, as Christianity became more influential in society, the concept of the heart and love gradually became more accepted. This concept became more popular in the 11th century, when it was associated with many spiritual achievements and became a familiar image in the courtship of knights towards the women they loved.
Around the 1180s, members of European families began expressing their strong wishes that upon their death, their hearts be buried separately from the rest of their bodies, in places special to them. For example, in 1199, when King Richard I of England died, his heart was buried in Rouen in Normandy while his body was buried in Anjou, where his father was buried.
Since when did Valentine's Day become "commercialized"?
In the mid-18th century, Valentine's Day was introduced to England, and lovers sent each other cards decorated with flowers, ribbons, Cupid and doves to express their love. In 1913, Hallmark Cards of Kansas City began mass-producing Valentine's Day cards, and just like that, handwritten cards were replaced by pre-printed cards.
Nowadays, when the legends of Saint Valentine and the true historical meanings behind this special holiday are no longer mentioned much, the most important thing is that it is still a special day of love for us to express our most sincere feelings to the one we love, just like the way Saint Valentine did in his last moments on this earth.
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